Calligraphy of English alphabet

Roman austere capitals

Rustic Capitals tend to be a sturdy, dynamic calligraphy alphabet, good-for games when you want formality and impact without rigidity.

Rustic Capitals will be the oldest script I include tutorials for on this web site. They truly are essentially a nib- or brush-written alternate version of the grand, stone-chiselled, square capitals you'll still see all over Roman monuments.

Living in old Rome, you'll have observed announcements, information as well as rude emails printed in Rustic Capitals regarding the wall space regarding the town, in only the same way as advertising posters or graffiti these days.

Two calligraphy books get noticed for this script:

The historic Sourcebook for Scribes, by Michelle Brown and Patricia Lovett, provides analysis regarding the script and a calligrapher's expert breakdown of the pen-strokes included.

Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy offers of good use diagrams – and Drogin uses Rustic Caps throughout their excellent guide for area brands. His is the version I've based my very own tutorial on.

Uncial

Uncial's rounded kind owes one thing on Greek alphabet, and historically it's linked to the early Christian Church. It superficially resembles standard Irish programs (Irish/Insular Majuscule). In one single type or another, it had been used in handwritten publications for nearly a millennium. For a lot of that time it was purely a calligraphy alphabet (rather than a historical script) for the reason that it was written down gradually and painstakingly to look as impressive as you can.

Uncial is not difficult to see, with serene overtones, and lends it self to brief poems, quotations, and brands. But it takes up a great deal of room. Suggested tutorial publications:

For mastering Uncial without historic research, i would recommend Anne Trudgill's typical Penmanship, that provides an easy, no-frills approach to making a display version of the script.

The historic Sourcebook for Scribes, by Michelle Brown and Patricia Lovett contains two Uncial alphabets: the sooner, angled-nib variation and what they call the flat-pen version.

Marc Drogin's also includes two types of Uncial – a plainer variation therefore the later, calligraphic, Artifical Uncial pictured above.

Gothic, textura quadrata

I have a certain soft area for Gothic calligraphy alphabets. The aforementioned is a form of Gothic textura quadrata (which means 'woven-looking', since it's very carefully done, and 'four-cornered', since the letters have actually a rectangular, blocky form). This was the script of choice for years and years of guide production in medieval Europe.

We offer a few great, no-cost pages on Gothic, including a pleasant intro, a three-page guide regarding the minuscule (little) letters beginning here, and another tutorial page for composing Gothic majuscules (capitals).

Anne Trudgill offers obvious instructions on how best to create a handsome Gothic alphabet, and, for beginners, In addition suggest George Thomson's (their examples tend to be huge and simple to copy, with helpful guidelines).